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Mac turns 30

Thirty years ago Steve Jobs and Apple Computer introduced Macintosh to the world. You may recall that the 1984 TV spot aired only once, and that was during the Superbowl in 1984. Of course the ad has appeared in many places since then, and is still held up as one if not the greatest TV spots of all time.

But I’ve addressed the 1984 spot in earlier posts so I’d like to focus on the affection that the creative community has for the Macintosh operating system and the Apple hardware that runs it. Whether you’re a graphic artist or musician, video editor or animator, the Mac is probably your computer of choice. From the start Apple’s attention to design and style was noticed by people who care about such things. In fact, Steve Jobs admits that his inspiration for building a better computer started with a typography class.

In the mid 1980s a Macintosh computer, a laser printer, and PageMaker software allowed graphic designers to create flyers, posters, pamphlets and other print pieces that rivaled what could be produced in a small print shop. A few years later audio recording and video editing software made large studios and production facilities appear to be unnecessary. The iLife software (iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand, etc.) that shipped free with every Mac provided access to simple-to-use tools capable of creating amazing works of art. Of course, in the hands of amateurs there was plenty of dreadful art as well.

I was fortunate to have a MacPlus as my first computer at work. It had 1MB of RAM, a single floppy disk drive, and it cost about $2,599. I was able to create documents that I saved to a 720K floppy disk. Then I took the disk next door to my colleague who had his Mac attached to a laser printer. Those were exciting days!

This video by Apple captures some of the excitement and creative energy that Macintosh brought to the community of artists and those who defied the reign of Big Blue.